Staff report

Favorites North Rowan, Carson and Salisbury won first-round games in the Dale’s Sporting Goods Sam Moir Christmas Classic on Tuesday and advanced to today’s semifinals.

North 64, South 56

Third-seeded North Rowan built a 14-point halftime lead and was able to hold off sixth-seeded South Rowan in an exciting morning game.

The Raiders (4-6) got as close as four points late in the contest, but senior Hannah Wilkerson had two critical buckets for the Cavaliers (7-2) with a floater in the lane and a physical and-one.

Wilkerson helped shoot North into that big halftime lead with three 3-pointers and finished with 19 points.

“She shot well from outside tonight and we’ve been waiting on that to peak for her,” North head coach Anthia Smith said.

Bailee Goodlett scored 21. Brittany Ellis had 11 of her 17 in the third quarter to help keep North in front.

North got key buckets from Dasia Elder and Bloom Goodlett in a frantic fourth quarter.

“We played very well together,” Smith said. “Fix some minor mistakes, and we’ll be on our way.”

South’s top two scorers, Bethany Rymer and Mackenzie Chabala, did not score in the first quarter as North surged ahead 18-5 and appeared to be heded for a blowout.

“That first quarter just killed us,” South head coach Alex Allen said. “But we didn’t stop fighting.”

Rymer and Chabala had huge second halves. Rymer had 20 of her 24 points after halftime. Chabala was tough on the boards and had 13 of her 16 points in the second half.

Hannah Atwell made two 3-pointers for South.

South plays A.L. Brown in a consolation game today at 10:30 a.m. North Rowan will get another shot at second-seeded Carson in the 3 p.m. semifinal. Both of North’s losses were to Carson.

South     5     13   19      19   — 56

North    18   14    13      19   — 64

SOUTH — Rymer 24, Chabala 16, Cherry 6, Atwell 6, Dextraze 4.

NORTH — Ba. Goodlett 21, Wilkerson 19, Ellis 17, Bl. Goodlett 3, Stoner 2, Elder 2.

 

Carson 67, A.L. Brown 32

Second-seeded Carson struggled early, but got it together after a halftime chat and blew out A.L. Brown 67-32.

Carson (8-2) needed an acrobatic layup by Hannah Isley to lead 31-19 at halftime over the seventh-seeded Wonders (2-9).

“I thought we went through the motions in the first half, were very sluggish and didn’t have much enthusiasm,” Carson head coach Brooke Stouder said. (Senior point guard) Camden Corley got us going in the second half. She’s got a motor and she scores when we need it. She took advantage of her scoring opportunities.”

Corley had five steals and scored 10 of her career-high 16 points in the second half. A spree by Corley late in the third quarter stretched a 15-point Carson lead to 26.

Carson’s usual leading scorers Mary Spry (19 points), who accounted for the Cougars’ first six, and Hannah Isley, who made three 3-pointers and scored 17, also did their share.

Carson wound up shooting 49 percent from the field and was 6-for-10 on 3-pointers.

“We don’t shoot the amount of 3 we did in recent years, but we were selective tonight and took the wide-open ones,” Stouder said.

Aliayah White made a 3-pointer in the third quarter for Carson. Makayla Johnson got some tough buckets inside.

The Cougars outscored the Wonders 36-13 in the second half and held them to four field goals after the break.

A.L. Brown got eight points each from Ayanni Flood and Alannah Green.

A.L. Brown plays South Rowan in a 10:30 a.m. consolation today. Carson battles North Rowan (for the third time) in a 3 p.m. semifinal.

A.L. Brown         8      11    9     4    — 32

Carson                12     19    23   13   — 67

A.L. BROWN — Flood 8, Green 8, Estesa 7, Faulkner 5, David 4.

CARSON — Spry 19, H. Isley 17, Corley 16, White 7, Johnson 6, R. Isley 2.

 

Salisbury 76, Davie 23

Top-seeded Salisbury turned in a shaky first quarter, but the Hornets eventually got it rolling and running-clocked eighth-seeded Davie.

The Hornets (8-1) must have missed a dozen layups in a mostly passionless first quarter,.

While they were favored by about 50, their lead was only 13-9 after Davie (1-9) got the first bucket of the second quarter.

But then the Hornets got more intense and got hot. Rachel McCullough made a 3-pointer. Kyla Bryant made a long one after a nice pass by Jamecia Huntley, and then McCullough drilled another 3-pointer.

Suddenly, the Hornets were up 24-11. They were on their way.

Salisbury racked up 48 points in the middle two quarters and held Davie to single digits in every quarter.

The Hornets outscored Davie 22-2 in a destructive third quarter.

“Just tournament jitters in that first quarter, and we missed a whole lot of easy ones,” Salisbury head coach Lakai Brice said. “Our defense got us going in the second quarter, and then we started moving the ball better and making shots.”

The Hornets made the extra pass and scored inside and outside.

McCullough, who made four 3-pointers, and Bryant finished with 16 each. Jaleiah Gibson missed some easy ones early, but was tough in the second half. She made physical finishes in the lane and scored 12. Kiki Walker and Icesis Nwafor helped out with nine each.

Huntley only scored four, but was impressive rebounding, defending and passing.

Salisbury’s second team, which is as good as some starting units, played a big chunk of the game.

Salisbury will tackle fourth-seeded West Rowan in tonight’s 6 p.m. semifinal. Davie plays East Rowan in  noon consolation matchup.

Davie                  7     9   2      5    — 23

Salisbury          13   26   22  15   — 76

DAVIE — Gentry 7, Johnson 5, S. Dirks 4, Rankin 3, L. Dirks 2, Spaugh 2.

SALISBURY — Bryant 16, McCullough 16, Gibson 12, Walker 9, Nwafor 9, Noble 4, Huntley 4, Dalton 4, Arnold 2.